PHP Azure WebJob - Failing With Exit Code 255 (But Working Fine On Kudu)

Question

I have developed a PHP Script which generates a simple financial report and sends it via SMTP (using the PHPMailer library).

I am attempting to host and execute the script using Azure Web Jobs, but unfortunately the job is failing each time I run it.

The WebJob is located at wwwroot\\App_Data\\jobs\\triggered\\send-sales-report\\send_sales_report.php on Azure.

The contents of the script are as follows; as can be seen, the script imports a number of other scripts:

<?php

    try 
    {

        include "./../../../../inc/class.EmailMessage.inc";
        include "./../../../../E-Mail.php";

        $message = new EmailMessage('sales_report', array());
        SendOrderEmail('Sales Report', $message->render(), 'name@emailprovider.com', 'Recipient Name');

    } 
    catch (Exception $e) 
    {

        echo 'Caught exception: ',  $e->getMessage(), "\n";

    }

?>

In addition, the directory structure of the files mentioned above is as follows:

wwwroot
|___App_Data
    |___jobs
        |___triggered
            |___send-sales-report
                |___send_sales_report.php
|___inc
    |___class.EmailMessage.inc
|___emails
    |___sales_report.php
|___E-Mail.php

When I run the PHP WebJob using the Azure Portal (both manually and on a schedule), it fails with exit code 255; however, when I execute the script using the Kudu Console on Azure it works just fine. In addition, I have also replicated the running environment locally and it is working fine.

Any help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

I would recommend you to enable PHP Error Logs for your app. Create a .user.ini file and add the following to it:

log_errors = on

Refer this blogpost: Enable PHP error logging

The default location for the PHP Error logs will be: D:\\home\\LogFiles\\php_errors.log

This should help in proceeding further.

Answer 2

255 is an error. See PHP exit status 255: what does it mean? . So, You may encounter a Fatal error in your PHP script.

It is possible to catch Fatal Errors by using register_shutdown_function function . The following code sample you can use to log the Fatal error when it occurred.

<?php

register_shutdown_function('shutdown_function');  

try 
{

    include "./../../../../inc/class.EmailMessage.inc";
    include "./../../../../E-Mail.php";

    $message = new EmailMessage('sales_report', array());
    SendOrderEmail('Sales Report', $message->render(), 'name@emailprovider.com', 'Recipient Name');

} 
catch (Exception $e) 
{

    echo 'Caught exception: ',  $e->getMessage(), "\n";

}

function shutdown_function()  
{
    $e = error_get_last();
    print_r($e);
}